


Blooming Inspiration

by cathedralroses



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Flower Shop, Alternate Universe - Flower Shop & Tattoo Parlor, F/F, ymir is hot as always, ymir swears a lot
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-20
Updated: 2018-08-23
Packaged: 2019-06-29 22:34:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15738675
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cathedralroses/pseuds/cathedralroses
Summary: Historia works in a floral shop. Ymir, a tattoo artist from next door, just so happens to like looking at flowers for inspiration- and the girl who tends to them.





	1. Slow Summer

**Author's Note:**

> I'm working my way out of writer's block and really happy to be doing it with a Yumikuri fic! (also ty Lyn for running the au idea past me)

Fingernails tapping upon a solid wooden counter, like a steady metronome, radiated throughout the vacated shop, like some kind of plea for the sheer boredom of work to cease. It wasn't that Historia held a disliking for working in the floral shop; quite the opposite, in fact- it was the lack of activity in the tiny corner store that made her purely dread her shifts. The concept of working in such a alluring, aromatic space was sure to make anyone feel at ease with their job. Not to mention that many would kill for an opportunity to slack off via the breach of business at work. However, one can only listen to the droning hum of air conditioning, utter silence of voices (or living beings in general,) and steady clock-ticking so much before they began to crave interaction once more.

As the blonde began to tap her foot on the stained hardwood flooring, rhythm matching her fingertips' counter symphony, her hope she had this morning of receiving any kind of company slowly dwindled down like a fire without any more fuel.

Brilliant blue eyes, a color that could be matched to that of the sea, lay staring at the glass door at the front of the shop. It was sparkling clean thanks to her morning cleaning duties as she came on shift, and the sunlight poured in from outside through it.

There were people passing outside the door. There had been all day. Not a single one bothered to stop in the shop.

The blonde finally seized her rhythmic tapping, both hand and foot, and reached into the back pocket of her jeans to pull out her phone. Couldn't hurt to just check her Instagram for a second, right? She wasn't supposed to be on it, technically- yet, with the rate that things were going, her (out of town) boss probably wouldn't care and would probably even whip out hers herself.

The girl unlocked her phone quickly, opening the all-too-familiar social media app and mindlessly scrolling through the posts from her friends and classmates alike. They were having fun, outside doing things, practicing bands and sports, as she was stuck inside of her tedious work bubble during summer break. It was almost like the posts were teasing her, showing her what she could be doing instead of earning "work experience" (as her parents called it.) She didn't need the money that much, honestly; her parents took care of the college funds, and her apartment/utilities- she only paid her phone bill, and any other little expenses she forked out for food or fun. 

She flipped through the other social media apps cluttering her phone, amidst a sea of time-passing games and other various entertainments. The lime-green messaging app was lit up with a circle of red in the corner, letting her know she apparently had a grand total of 102 messages unread since she last checked this morning. She figured it was from the group chat she shared with a few of her peers at her college- "shingeki uni thots" it was named- courtesy of a short, kind of weird friend of hers named Connie. 

Besides a couple separate messages from some of her friends, indeed the majority seemed to be coming from the group chat. As she scrolled, she caught wind of what seemed to be like one of her friends, Jean, being rejected by Mikasa again; no one seemed surprised. It almost made her want to laugh. 

She thumbed through more messages, more drama, more of Connie and Sasha's weird memes. It's like the people in the chat spoke so loudly- so loudly, in fact, that she didn't even hear the small chime of the bell above the door ring as it opened. Or the quiet footsteps of someone approaching the small counter. It saved utter shock for the moment a voice spoke through the dull silence.

"Do you think I could get you to help me for a second? Whenever you're done screwing around on your phone, that is. Take your time."

  _There it was._

A small screech, a hand fumble that nearly caused the phone to go crashing to the hardwood floors, and a look that exactly mirrored one of a deer in headlights.

"I-I'm sorry! I didn't see you!" spewed quickly out of the blonde's mouth, as she slammed her phone down on the counter in a panic and looked up to meet the gaze of the girl standing just across from her. The girl was tall- so tall that Historia had to look up just to meet a devious, golden-eyed gaze and smirking lips. At least the girl's tone and the look on her face spelled out that she wasn't being hostile in any manner; she seemed rather entertained by Historia's lack of notice. Perhaps she was even amused by the panic set into emotion after her presence was made known.

"I bet not with that phone stuck in your face, Princess."

The smirk stayed. Historia's deer in headlights expression left.

"I hope you weren't standing there for long... again, I'm really sorry. The shop's been so dead today, I had nothing else to do..." she said softly.

She took a moment to look at the girl before her; she was tall, as she'd already noted. Really tall, compared to her. She had dark, chestnut brown hair shrouding a slender, olive face adorned with freckles; it was rather short but clipped together in the back by a shining silver hair barrette. The girl wore a simple black t-shirt, accompanied by a red flannel jacket tied loosely around her waist. Her arms, the same beautiful olive as her face, wore scattered colorful tattoos. There weren't a lot. However, there weren't so little as to make one not notice them upon looking on first site.

The girl spoke again, causing Historia's looking spree to be cut short.

"It's whatever. I'm from the tattoo shop next door, you know? I stopped in to get some good ideas on an appointment I've got coming up. Girl wants carnations tattooed, and I've no fucking idea what they look like off the top of my head."

Her gaze wandered over to the flowers lining one side of the store .

"You got any?"

"Of course! Ah, one second-" Historia hustled from behind the counter, blonde hair tied back loosely swinging lightly over her shoulder with each step. Her mind popping up with only one question that she was certainly going to keep quiet about: Couldn't she just look up a picture? Not that the other girl was bothering her by any means-- she was obviously happy to have company for the first time today-- but what was the point when there were billions of images of the perennial flowers online? Maybe it's for the same reason people still painted still-life photos today- there's just nothing like a real life model?

Historia walked briskly still to a section on the side of the store where large, glass door coolers sat holding a variety of in season flowers. She pulled open a door at the end, slender fingers grabbing at a vase filled with flourishing, vibrant, blush-colored carnations. She pulled it out carefully and spoke.

"Will these do? We have other colors, if you'd like. They're a few weeks into season, so you came at the right time!" She spun around on her heel, finding the taller girl standing just behind her and looking down on her. Her smirking face had been replaced by a moderately stoic one as she brought her eyes to the flowers, giving a small nod.

"Yeah, those will do."

Historia smiled warmly, handing the brunette the vase. Their hands touched for a mere second. 

She tilted her head up once more to look at the girl before her, who now held the vase of carnations in her grasp and was looking over them intently.

"Did you just want to look at them? Take your time!"

"Uh... I might as well buy them? I can just look at them in the shop while I do it. The appointment is like in an hour. You wouldn't happen to have a flower renting service, would you?" she joked, the familiar smirk growing back on her lips.

"I'm... I don't... think so?" she laughed nervously.

"Oh, man. Could've given me another excuse to come back in here and see you. You look pretty damn lonely. No offense to your shop, though."

Even if it did sound a bit crude, because she "looked lonely," the girl had wanted to visit her again, and somehow that made a weird feeling rush over the girl's body. She thought for a second, suddenly feeling eager to have this stranger visit her again- whether it was just for the company in general, or just because she wanted to see her specifically again, she hadn't made up her mind about.

"In that case... I think, you can borrow them if you'd like. If they wilt before you get them back here, they're on me. I don't really think they will, though..."

"As sweet as an offer that is, that's stupid. I'm the one taking them, so I'll just pay for 'em if they do."

God, had Historia ever met someone so blunt?

"Well... it's up to you. I recommend just doing that, though... If you're not giving them to someone, why waste your money?" she smiled warmly once more, and the taller girl gave a small nod in agreement.

"Alright. I'll take them for my appointment and bring them back to you. What time do you get off?"

"I get off at 4!"

"It's only 12.. Can't promise I'll have her tattooed by then, but if I don't, I'll just pay for the flowers before you leave. Sound good... Historia?"

She felt the wave over her body again. Just as she began to question how the taller girl knew her name, she remembered that she had a name tag. Of course. Sure enough, the golden eyes were looking right at the tag pinned on her blouse.

"It does... uh..."

"Ymir."

"Ymir!"

The brunette, who now had a name attached to that slender face, kept her smirk tacked on her lips still and began to walk towards the door with the flowers in hand.

"I'll be seeing you, then."

"O-okay! Thanks for stopping in!"

When the tall girl set foot out the door, her chestnut hair turning to the right and falling out of site, Historia's mouth turned up into a smile. She suddenly couldn't wait for the moment she heard the bells above the door ring again.


	2. For You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ymir comes back, much to Historia's liking.

It wasn't an understatement to say that Historia didn't really know what to do with herself for the time being. It'd been about three hours since that girl- Ymir- took off with her carnations and left word she'd be coming back around the end of her shift. Three hours of thumb-twiddling, staring at the door, texting her friend Sasha back and forth about a crisis she was having (she was caught stealing food from work,) and most of all? Thinking about Ymir. The hours she had in the shop gave her lots of time to overthink and wonder about the brunette she'd just met. There was something about her that piqued her interest- something that made her feel a little anxious to see her again, a little excited. And she'd had enough time to decide that it was not just her loneliness in the shop. No, it was a Ymir-specific thing. And according to what the brunette had said before she left, she wanted to see Historia again, too- playing into her favor.

She held her phone in her small pale hands, thumb hovering over the keyboard on her conversation with Sasha, and mind switching back and forth between thinking of the food junkie's situation and her own. What exactly was she on about with the tattoo artist? Was it her devious attitude- one that maybe teemed with flirtatious intent, as it never seemed harmful- to go alongside with the bad-girl look Historia seemed to find herself fawning over in other girls? She had to be blunt with herself: Ymir was hot. She was exactly the kind of girl the blonde caught herself staring at when she found one in public or in some friend recommendation on Facebook. Something about the kind of swagger they held to themselves, and how their appearances just made her small, fragile heart melt with just a glace from one of them. It was her type. She only hoped she was Ymir's type, too. God how she hoped small, quiet, nervous blondes played into the brunette's dating type. And a new problem arose: did she even like girls?

Historia felt she was in too deep for a mere five minute interaction. And to be honest? She didn't really care- what was a tiny crush going to do to harm anyone? It had helped her pass the time and give her something to look forward to rather than the moment she punched out and trotted back to her tiny apartment and cozy bed. To her, the latter was just a bonus now.

So when the taller girl came waltzing back in the shop a mere ten minutes before Historia was about to clock out, carnations in hand and looking a little worn out, the blonde's heart fluttered a bit and she promptly slid her phone back in her pocket before it could be noticed. Sasha could wait, even if she was on the verge of of being fired. It's not like it was the first time.

Ymir made a bee line towards the counter, weaving past a couple tables adorned with decorative flower vases and lifting the vase in her own hands towards Historia with a small smirk. Historia gave one of her infamous warm smiles, placing her hands on the counter and leaning forwards a bit. She watched the brunette walk, how her slender legs strode with something akin to swagger. Oh yeah, she was totally in too deep.

"I'm a woman of my word, Historia." She said, setting down the carnations on the counted next to Historia's hands with a soft plunk.

"I see that. You had a whole ten minutes, too!" The blonde giggled, wrapping a hand around the vase and starting to pick them up to place them back in their rightful cooler. The smirk grew larger on the brunette.

"Actually, I'd like to buy them." Ymir spoke, her hand reaching behind her to her back pocket. Historia raised her eyebrows. "They're perfectly fine, though..." "They are. But maybe I'd like to keep them for personal reasons. Maybe I like carnations, and I want to decorate my place with them. You never know."

"You didn't know what they looked like almost four hours ago, though."

"Touché. Just ring me up, Princess." She gave another smirk, placing an elbow on the counter and pulling out a wad of cash from her back pocket with her other hand. Historia nodded, and figured she could take the chance to look over the tattoos decorating the arm perched before her. She didn't want to stare for long- lest she get caught staring- but she was curious about Ymir, and people tended to get tattooed with things that meant a lot to them or spoke to them. Save for the ones who get stick-n-pokes at 3 am at parties. Her eyes skimmed the perched elbow of the girl, catching the biggest tattoo adorning her forearm- it was what looked like two skeletons, wrapped up in each other, surrounded by a lot of bright red roses and thorns creating an oval frame around them. Though Historia was never too fond of skeletons and skulls alike, as she liked more cutesy things, the symbolism the tattoo gave off struck her as rather romantic and beautiful. It was certainly a piece of art.

Ymir coughed lightly, and Historia brought her eyes back up to the narrow, golden ones of the brunette. The blonde dragged her mind away from the tattoo and turned her attention to the register, punching in the price for the carnations.

"The total is twenty-five even. How did your appointment go, by the way?"

"It went fine, I got it all done today. It was such a small tattoo, and luckily we only took a couple of breaks." Ymir handed out a twenty and a five, and Historia handed the receipt back a moment later.

"That's good! Honestly, I couldn't imagine how much patience you have to sit there and ink someone for long hours at a time like that." Ymir hummed a bit, shoving the receipt in the pocket of her jeans and lifting her elbow up off the table. "It can get kinda boring, especially if the person in my chair won't speak much or their only lines of dialogue are just about their daily lives. Today was a total treat, though. Girl had a lot of interesting stories. And I had coming back in here to look forwards to."

Historia felt her heart leap again at her last words, and her cheeks warming up to a dull shade of pink. She wondered just how much of an idiot it made her look like.

"You were really looking forward to seeing me that much?"

"Nah, I just like seeing the flowers." Oh yeah. Definitely an idiot now. Dumb Bitch Academy graduate, right before your eyes, folks.

"Oh! Y-yeah, they're really pretty. I like being in here with them." Ymir snickered, picking up the vase of carnations. "You get off soon, yeah?"

"Ah, yeah! In like uh-" she checked the clock to the side of the counter- "three minutes, actually."

"Damn, I really did make it on time. Welp, guess I'll be seeing you, Historia. Get out of this shop and be free."

"If going home directly and sleeping counts as free, then I'm set!" She laughed a bit, trying to play off her embarrassment as best she could. She had only hoped Ymir didn't notice her blush. Smiling meekly, she watched the brunette give her a small wave and a word of farewell. Much to Historia's disliking, it was a quick interaction, and one that didn't leave her satisfied in the slightest. Historia sighed to herself, unsure of what to do with herself at this point. As embarrassing as earlier was, she'd still told her in their first encounter that she wanted to see her again- that counted for something, right?

 

She clocked out, taking off the name tag pinned to her blouse and locking up the shop. She stepped foot outside into the thick, muggy summer heat and started off to where her car was parked.

"Historia?"

She knew that voice- the same deep, devious voice she'd been hearing all day. It was Ymir. She turned around, coming face-to-chest (seriously, damn her for being so tall) with the freckled girl. She promptly looked up, and then down to the flowers clutched in her hands.

"I think it's obvious I was looking forwards to seeing you, you know. And these? They're for you. Like hell I'd decorate my place with these." She chuckled, her narrowed eyes looking down at the blonde with that same playful glint. She handed out the carnations towards Historia. "I'd rather have them go somewhere where its beauty is matched."

 _Oh my god_. She really didn't know what to say. She took the carnations carefully, her face heating up once more. Shit, Ymir-the-hot-tattoo-artist-from-next-door's-shop just handed her flowers and promptly admitted again to wanting to see her. It kept the thoughts she had earlier burning, and made her just that more attracted to her.  If her face was ever a bright shade of red before, it was certainly ten times worse now. Damn her, seriously.

"Oh, oh my god- thank you, Ymir!" she managed to get out, holding the vase of flowers close to her as her wide eyes looked back up to meet the gaze of the taller girl. Ymir hummed, giving a wink and running a hand through her chestnut hair.

"Say, if you're still considering your freedom to be heading home and crashing, let me take you somewhere tonight."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!! Just a pointless note here but-  
> I revise my stuff before I post, but I go back and reread a lot!! So I'm always touching up stuff, or fixing tiny errors I looked past before. ♡ That's all!  
> I really appreciate the support for this! Especially when it's not my absolute best, since I'm still coming out of writer's block. You're all amazing!!


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